Six universities to open strike ballots.

Te Hautū Kahurangi | Tertiary Education Union members at six universities came together in force at paid union meetings yesterday, and called for a strike vote.

If members vote to strike, it will be the biggest show of force in the tertiary education sector since 7,000 union members at all eight universities took action in 2022.

Members at Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa | Massey University, Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University, Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki | Lincoln University, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | The University of Canterbury and Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka | The University of Otago overwhelmingly expressed their frustration with slow progress in pay negotiations.

TEU, along with other unions at some universities, have tabled claims for a 6% pay increase and for wages and salaries for the lowest paid members to be no lower than the Living Wage. Current employer offers for general pay increases range from 1.5% to 3%.

Te Pou Ahurei | National Secretary Sandra Grey says university staff have been undervalued for far too long. “Pay growth in the sector has been much slower than the rest of the Aotearoa workforce, at a time when inflation has been at 30-year highs.”

“We’re talking about academic staff, but also about administrators, librarians, security staff, gardeners, and many other professions, some of whom are paid below the living wage. That’s unacceptable. Nobody in Aotearoa, let alone working at a university, should be paid less than what it costs to live.”

A TEU member at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | The University of Canterbury, Kaspar Middendorf, says they voted for the strike ballot to be held because “I’m sick of low pay offers year after year. This year especially, when my university is making a surplus, yet we have been presented with one of the lowest pay offers in the country.”

“Our members are also angry that our employer is refusing to pay our lowest paid colleagues a living wage. We want everyone at University of Canterbury to be paid enough to live on and we don’t know why that would even be controversial.”

Te Wānanga Aronui O Tamaki Makau Rau | Auckland University of Technology members are not negotiating this year, while Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato | The University of Waikato is currently beginning a fresh set of negotiations following their recent negotiations campaign.